Naia rehab stirs curiosity of Incheon airport developer
MANILA -The race for the P170-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) rehabilitation project continues to heat up with the entry of another potential bidder, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista told reporters Incheon Airport Group bought bid documents for the infrastructure project, which seeks to expand Naia’s capacity.
The Incheon Airport Group manages South Korea’s biggest international gateway, which handles 77 million passengers annually. It was also tasked with developing the surrounding areas and realizing other construction projects for Incheon International Airport.
According to the DOTr’s invitation, interested parties can access the concession agreement and other documents upon payment of a P2.75-million participation fee.
7 potential bidders
The Naia rehab project now has seven potential bidders that may or may not appear by the end of the call for bids.
The government snubbed Manila International Airport Consortium’s (MIAC) P267-billion unsolicited proposal, where the latter promised to shorten passenger processing time by introducing modern technology such as automated boarding gates and self check-in and bag-drop upgrades. It, instead, pursued the solicited bidding process, which would give it the upper hand in directing the Naia upgrades.
READ: Gov’t chooses open bidding for Naia rehab, snubs MIAC offer
MIAC also purchased bid documents.
The consortium is composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global – Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and Global Infrastructure Partners.
San Miguel Corp., meanwhile, has not responded to questions as to why it purchased bid documents even as it was developing the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan. The airport project, which is expected to decongest Naia, has a design capacity of up to 100 million passengers annually.
GMR Group, another possible bidder, is an Indian infrastructure developer that is part of the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. running the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
Spark 88 Management Inc. and Asian Airport Consortium also secured bid documents. Details about the two companies are not available.
READ: PH jump-starts Naia privatization as deadline for bids set for Dec 27
Last Sep. 22, a prebidding conference was conducted where the DOTr announced that Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, a Turkish infrastructure company, purchased bid documents. The submission of bids is set for Dec. 27 while the awarding of the contract is expected by the first quarter of next year.
The airport project covers the rehabilitation of passenger terminals and airside facilities such as runway, aircraft parking area and airfield lighting; provision of facilities enabling intermodal transfer at the airport, and construction of connection from Naia Terminal 3 to Metro Manila Subway, which is under development.
